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TexMex Paleo Burger Recipe

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I’ve been awful with my diet recently, mainly because I haven’t been prepping and planning my meals the way I normally do. As a result, my weight has crept up a bit and I’ve decided to host an intervention for myself – I’m planning out recipes for the week.

Since I always have a craving for greasy Mexican food, I decided to create a simple recipe that includes all of the flavors I love but is quick to throw together and doesn’t require cooking effort beyond throwing it on the grill.

I introduce – the TexMex Paleo Burger!

They even look beautiful raw!

They even look beautiful raw!

Super Simple Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs extra lean ground beef. (Grass-fed, if you’re strict Paleo)
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
  • 4 tbsp chili powder (less if you don’t like it spicy)
  • 6 button mushrooms, chopped small
  • 4 tbsp dried onion flakes
  • 1 raw egg
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour (coconut flour works, as well, but you may need to add a tiny bit of water)
  • 1/3 cup of Daiya (non-dairy, non-soy) cheese alternative. I used sharp cheddar, but they have a Pepper Jack version that would be great, too!

Simple Preparation:

In a giant mixing bowl, start with your ground beef. In my case, I add all of the spices and mushrooms first, then hand mix by folding it together on itself a few times. Once that’s formed into a very thick mix, I add the cheese, raw egg, and tapioca flour. This helps it all to stick together and form solid patties.

As you can see, I form very generous-sized patties – each is probably 7-8 ounces.

The BEST WAY to cook a burger is always going to be on the grill: about 5 minutes on each side with this thickness if you’re cooking it on a medium heat. If you must pan fry, keep the temperature low so that they cook all the way through.

Personally, I like making my burgers at least 4-6 hours before I plan to cook them, as I think the flavor intensifies as they sit in the fridge. Also, letting them chill in the fridge seems to help them hold when cooked. If they hit the grill at room temperature, they seem more likely to break apart.

The finished product!

The finished product!

I’ll be posting more recipes this week, as I’m spending my Sunday prepping for a week of healthy, clean, Paleo eating!

On that note, bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Hungry, Hungry Hippo!

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I am a junkie of the Huffington Post. I have a tendency to start my morning on a reading binge, going through about a dozen articles (via my cell phone) within the first thirty minutes of waking up. Half-asleep and attempting to brush my teeth, I scroll through the pages as quickly as my groggy eyes can read them.

While I’m often consuming articles on trending news or world wide events, most of my reading consists of the Healthy Living section: diets, workouts, and nutritional advice.

One article, specifically, caught my eye today:

9 Sneaky Reasons You’re Ravenously Hungry

Today’s article really struck home, as I struggle with the voracity of my appetite most days of the week.

Seriously, if I allowed myself, I could consume THOUSANDS of calories at every meal and still have room for more. Perhaps it’s the remnants of my bigger days, but I can put away food with the best of them.

My dream job... if calories didn't count.

My dream job… if calories didn’t count.

In reading these tips, I feel like I need to smack my forehead a few times. I know these rules, but I don’t adhere to them. I’m horrible about skipping breakfast (coffee counts, no?) and I’m horrible about mindless munching.

Take, for example, this morning:

Since it’s a Monday, I decided to start the day with a healthy breakfast – four turkey sausage patties.

220 calories, 26 grams of protein, and all natural ingredients. Good job, right?

Yeaaaaaah!

Then I got to work.

Four rice cakes (NOT PALEO!) topped with sunflower nut butter (yum!) and raw wildflower honey and I’ve consumed double the calories of my breakfast in just minutes. And it’s not even lunch time yet!

WHOOPS.

I guess I’m just a hungry, hungry hippo today.

I'm the pink one, of course.

I’m the pink one, of course.

Fortunately, it’s still early in the day, I have a healthy lunch packed, and I plan to hit the gym extra hard this evening – both to burn off stress and the excess calories. I’m glad I read this article this morning, as it brought me back to a point of awareness. Most of my dieting failures are the result of complacency – I stop paying attention. Being aware of what you point into your body is just as important as working out and far more important than the numbers on the scale.

So kudos to HuffPost for reminding me to be aware! I needed that today!

On that note, it’s time for this hungry, hungry hippo to get some work done. Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Icing

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Last night, I decided to conduct an experiment in baking.

After a great workout at the gym, I was in the mood to indulge my pumpkin craving without blowing my diet. I started to look up Paleo recipes involving pumpkin and came across DOZENS that sounded amazing and easy to make.

The catch?

I didn’t have all of the ingredients.

Rather than trying to find a 24 hour Whole Foods (do those exist?) to stock up on Paleo staples, I decided to modify a recipe I found using what I had on hand. With this recipe as my inspiration, I came up with the following recipe:

Paleo Muffin Recipe

Ingredients –

  • 1 can (29 oz) pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup Truvia granules (technically, this isn’t Paleo, but I didn’t have any more raw honey in the house and wanted to shave off a few calories.)
  • 1/3 cup tapioca flour
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
  • 1/3 cup So Delicious French Vanilla Creamer
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil
  • 4 tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp allspice
  • 2 tbsp baking powder

Cooking Instructions –

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • While the oven warms up, combine ALL ingredients in a large mixing bowl. I’m not good at the precision and artistry of baking, so I rarely “combine dry then wet ingredients” nor do I sift my flours. Somehow, it always comes out fine, even when I just mash it all together willy-nilly. Either I’ve just gotten lucky or all of those extra steps are a load of bullocky.
  • In a lined cupcake pan, spoon batter until each is about three-quarters full. I had enough batter to make exactly 24 cupcakes (regular size, not minis) without issue.
  • Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until desired doneness. I’m bad and prefer the center of my cupcakes a little gooey, so I pulled mine out at 22 minutes and they were perfect for my taste. If you like yours fully cooked, definitely err closer to 30 minutes.

After devouring a cupcake with my husband, we both agreed that they were delicious, but that they “tasted too healthy.” He was right – they were only about 80 calories each, which didn’t seem like much of a splurge.

Running on the adrenaline of one successful experiment, I decided to invent my own simple Paleo chocolate icing.

Paleo Chocolate Icing

Ingredients –

  • 6 tbsp Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
  • 2 tbsp So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Creamer
  • 1.5 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Cooking Instructions –

  • Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds, then stir. Microwave another 10-15 seconds, then stir again. Microwave about 10 more seconds, then remove from the microwave and stir slowly until all chocolate chips have melted and the icing thickens.

This icing was DELICIOUS and so simple to make. I just threw it together and drizzled about 1 tbsp on each cupcake, adding just 25-30 calories each, and it added a richness that completely gave our sugar-cravings a one-two punch!

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. YUM!

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. YUM!

So, if you’re in a pinch and want to whip up a recipe that uses less hard-to-find Paleo ingredients, try out these cupcakes! Most avid primal dieters always have coconut milk and almond flour on hand, so as long as you’ve got those two, chances are you can whip together just about any baked treat you’re craving with a little experimentation!

Let me know if you try this recipe at home and how it comes out!

Bon appetit,

~ Tori

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Halloween: Joy and Challenge

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Like many of you, Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s equally a child’s holiday as it is an adult’s, with only a small age range that chooses not to participate. I remember at 13 saying I was “too old to dress up.”

Man, was I missing out on a lot of fun.

I’d like to go back and slap 13-year-old-self in the face! You get to eat copious amounts of candy without judgement, attend parties, and dress up like anything you want! Come on, young-Tori, don’t be an idiot.

I’m pretty sure the costume stores have double the adult options as they do kiddie choices, and they’re not all “sexy cops” and “sexy nurses,” either. This year, since I’m attending multiple parties, I stocked up on props (fake blood, fake battle wounds, etc) and splurged on a secret costume that I’m going to unveil at a party next weekend.

Last night, I attended an OUTBREAK Survivor Party, so the majority of our costumes were zombie themed. I had fun with the makeup and shirt-decoration last night:

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So, what’s the downside to all of this partying and costume menagerie?

THE FOOD.

At the beginning of last week, I had gotten down to my all-time low of 130.6. I’ve never seen the scale dip that close to the blessed 120s and I was ecstatic.  As usual, I took a picture because I could hardly believe it:

scale

As you can imagine, though, I’m no where near that number today.

After almost two weeks of snacking on candy at work and then attending a few parties consisting of fried foods, chips, and lots of frothy beverages, my weight this morning is back up to 134.

SIGH.

It’s just a never-ending cycle. With holidays always a part of life – and the desire to splurge when around friends – it makes it really hard to come to an equilibrium with my body. I’m regimented for weeks, then destroy my efforts in a few days of all-out eating.  I’m not going to cut my friends out of my life. I’m not going to convert to Jehovah’s Witness to avoid the celebration of holidays. So what’s a yo-yo to do?

Well, I can tell you what this yo-yo is going to do today:

  • Have a cup of coffee to shake off the remaining effects of yesterday’s party.
  • Search for my make-up remover, as the good ol’ soap and water used on my face doesn’t seem to have gotten off all of the blood. I look rabid at the moment.
  • Hit the gym.
  • Eat as healthy as I can while recognizing that it’s the month of candy and I’m not going to escape it.
  • Enjoy a beautiful Florida day.

Halloween is both my joy and my challenge and I’ve decided I’m just going to roll with it today and not let a slight increase on the scale bring me down.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Busy Weekend: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer & The Neon Run!

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Whew!

It’s Sunday night and I’m just catching my breath from a fun (and fitness) filled weekend!

On Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to attend the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Downtown Orlando! A member of my staff at work is currently battling Double-Negative Metastic Breast Cancer, a very rare and aggressive form of the cancer, and so we organized a team to walk in her honor. It was a beautiful event, with nearly 15 direct colleagues in attendance and over 30 volunteers from our student body helping to keep the event running smoothly.

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Full Sail University, my alma mater, sponsored a tent at the event! They let us crash and stay cool in their shade before and after the race.

There were so many incredible sponsors at the event and more adorable pink accessories than I could wrap my little head around.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

 

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The beautiful Marilyn Usher (left), the strong, FABULOUS woman our team walked in support of at the event!

 

With a crowd of over 50,000 attendees, it was a very crowded race, yet a few of my friends and I decided to break from the pack and attempt to run the full 5k. Other than a few traffic jams that forced us to slow our gait, we managed to run pretty much the entire 5k!

 

We were a bit sweaty, but quite happy to make it to the finish line!

We were a bit sweaty, but quite happy to make it to the finish line!

 

If that wasn’t enough, my husband and I decided to hit the gym that afternoon and I tore up the elliptical trainer, mainly in an effort to loosen up my tight muscles. We had done an intense leg workout two days prior and I was still so sore, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the day.

But wait! I’m not done!

Yes, despite the run in the morning and the mid-day workout, I wasn’t ready to call it a day and take a nap just yet.

That evening, I participated in The Neon Run, a glow-in-the-dark 5k hosted at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. I won’t go into too many details about the organization of the event (they ran out of glow sticks, for Pete’s sake!), but I can say that I loved running at night and to the hypnotic beat of EDM!

Before the race. I've got my highlighter yellow shirt and glasses on and I'm READY to party!

Before the race. I’ve got my highlighter yellow shirt and glasses on and I’m READY to party!

I will admit that running in the DARK on a grass track is a bit of a challenge, as you can’t really see holes until you step in one, which made for a very paranoid run. Every 1/4 mile or so, we entered a “glow tent,” which basically consisted of us being DOUSED in glow-in-the-dark paint (hopefully nontoxic) and then running through a makeshift tent filled with strobing black lights.

Look at me! I'm phosphorescent!

Look at me! I’m phosphorescent!

All in all, it was a very athletic day and I feel good knowing that I didn’t fall into my normal weekend trap of eating badly, drinking heavily (calories, not binge-drinking), and vegetating in front of the TV.

And, even more exciting, several of my friends that attended the morning event now want to attend future races and charity events with me! Since we’re finally in “running season” in the south, there’s a new 5k, 10k, or half-marathon practically every weekend! So this could turn out to be the fittest autumn I’ve ever had!

On that note, it’s time to get some grub in my belly! After Saturday, I definitely think I earned it. Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Graduation Day: The Dream Dress!

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Graduation Day: The Dream Dress!

As promised to those who have followed the blog for several weeks, here is the photo of me in my size four graduation dress.

I worked hard to get into this sucker.

  • Hitting the gym 5-6 days per week,
  • Sticking to my Paleo diet, and
  • Not letting my stress trigger a binge as it so frequently can when it compounds.

When I started the program (my second Bachelors degree) in March 2011, I was a wearing a size ten.

In many ways, I am a completely transformed person as a result of my college experience. An instructor in my junior year encouraged me to start this blog and create my documentary (in which I  admitted to my bulimia) and that transparency with the world has helped me to gain better control of my eating disorder. Knowing that all of you, now thousands of readers, are sharing in my world and are aware of my struggles, I’ve found a greater strength inside me that helps me generate will power when I need it the most.

I am wiser, I am more passionate and creative, and I am physically half the woman I used to be.

I’ll take it.

Bon appetit, my friends!

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Humbled

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In the last 48 hours, I shared my story with Huffington Post and Daily Mail.

I shared the ups and downs of my weight loss, the on-going journey I’ve been on, and how it has emotionally impacted my life for nearly thirty years.

Then, this morning, I went to a theme park with friends, oblivious for what was to come.

I had no idea how many people would be impacted by reading my story. I kept feeling my phone buzzing in my pocket and finally, around 12pm, I decided to check it.

Thirty new people had liked my Facebook fan page.

Over 800 people per hour were visiting my blog.

And people were sending me personal messages and comments, telling me how my story touched them and how they could empathize with my struggle.

I had no idea so many people shared the same pain. The same joy. The same fight with numbers on a scale.

To my new friends, to my old friends – thank you for your support. I want you to know that you are BEAUTIFUL, inside and out, for showing compassion, kindness, and love to someone you do not know. I am humbled by the messages I’ve received and the personal notes that have been left on the comments section of several of my posts.

You – yes, YOU – are proof that society will one day supersede the superficial tendencies it has adopted and that intelligence, altruism, and acceptance will prevail. Until then, we’ll just have to learn to love ourselves, to nourish and take care of our bodies, and to surround ourselves with genuine people. I’m blessed that I’m on the path to all three.

On that note, bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

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Nature’s Path Blueberry Cinnamon Flax Oatmeal = YUMTASTIC

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Nature's Path Blueberry Cinnamon Flax Oatmeal = YUMTASTIC

OK, so I realize that this is NOT a Paleo-approved breakfast, but I happened to find this oatmeal on clearance at Whole Foods one day last week [it wasn’t old; I think the manufacturer changed their box design and Whole Foods HATES to be behind the times, you know], so I decided to pick up a box to try it out.

This stuff is AMAZING.

Not too sweet, extremely hearty, and packing only 160 calories per package. For the last two mornings, I’ve made myself two packets [320 calorie breakfast – nice and hearty] and had a cup of tea with it. I’m shocked to say it keeps me full for HOURS. I’m not exaggerating: HOURS.

Yesterday, I had my oatmeal around 10am and didn’t feel my first pang of hunger until almost 3:30pm. And I wasn’t trying to skip lunch – I was just that satisfied that I didn’t even notice the passing of the time.

This hot cereal boasts sweet blueberries, crunchy flax seeds, and the perfect balance of cinnamon and brown sugar. It’ll please the kids and the health nuts alike.

You know, one of my only gripes about the Paleo diet is the lack of breakfast options – you have to be PREPARED for breakfast with Paleo baked goods or time to spare to fry up some eggs – so this is the meal I most often find myself cheating.

If you’re going to cheat… might as well try to make it a healthy cheat and I think Nature’s Path Blueberry Cinnamon Flax oatmeal is the way to do it!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

The Path to Recovery

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After a week of stress-eating and skipping the gym, Monday brings a beautiful sunrise and a fresh look on life.

Last week, my husband and I lost a very close friend. In response to the pain, I ate.

And ate. And ate.

Did I mention EATING? I haven’t heard my stomach growl in over a week.

I stood on the scale today and wasn’t shocked to see the gain:

Nearly 5 pounds up.

Before, this would have been enough to put me into a spiraling depression. Fortunately, my view on life has changed dramatically as a result of the loss.

I shrugged it off, hopped off the scale, and continued getting ready for my day.

WOW.

I know an eating disorder isn’t cured over night. I also know that I will always, in the back of my mind, struggle over my weight, my eating habits, and my workout routines.

However, I would definitely say that I’m on a solid path to recovery. And I owe that to my dear friend, Greg. Rest in peace, brother.

Bon appetit, my friends,

~ Tori

The Point of a Pint

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Everyone has a vice. For some, it’s drinking. For others, it’s food. Drugs, sex, gambling, etc. The list goes on and on. Some are more damaging than others, but all of them can impact our lives in a negative way.

I’m constantly questioning myself and others regarding where they feel their bad habit[s] originated.

Was food a comfort when you were upset as a child?

Did your family reward you with candy?

Did a bad break-up lead you to promiscuity in the hopes of boosting your self-esteem?

What was your catalyst?

I ask the question with the knowledge that most people either won’t have an answer or they will have MULTIPLE answers.

For me, food was often a reward. My grandmother used to take me out gallivanting when I was a child, with trips to fancy restaurants for decadent desserts the epitome of a great day. She was the child of post World War II Germany, so most of her youth was spent suffering from malnutrition, so she has spent the majority of her adult life making up for it. I just got to go along for the ride, acquiring a taste for pound cake, quality chocolate, and anything dipped in butter.

Food was also escape.

In high school, I used to eat purely for the joy of eating. The satisfying crunch of a salty chip could drown out the stress of final exams. The melting of ice cream on the tongue could erase the memory of being bullied in the halls.

As an adult, food is everything.

It’s nourishment and fuel.

It’s pleasure. It’s pain.

Punishment. Reward.

EVERYTHING.

So why does food do that for us?

What, exactly, is the point of a pint?

Does it fill a void? Does it allow an outlet for emotion?

A few years ago, I wouldn’t have had an answer. At least, not a healthy one.

Now, though, I think that a pint of ice cream [or a pint of beer, given your preference], is sometime just that and nothing more. It’s a sweet, creamy, decadent indulgence that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes, the point of a pint is just the opportunity to enjoy a tasty treat, give a long stretch, and congratulate yourself on living through the day.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori